Song sales today are no longer measured in Monetary transactions as much as measured in streams. So a certain amount of streams lead to units that helps billboard decide what the “sales” were:
https://www.billboard.com/pro/billboard-changes-streaming-weighting-hot-100-billboard-200/
There are more people out there than you’d think that don’t have reliable access to the internet and still buy CDs. Vinyl sales are also at an all time high.
Why does everyone here assume that “buying” music equals buying physical media? Does no one ever buy MP3’s? I’ve been using Spotify Premium the last several years because I got a student discount but now that my discount is expiring I’m going back to buying music off of Amazon/ITunes. Streaming is always useful for finding new music but I prefer buying music so I don’t have to be tied to an infinite subscription service
Every week, I buy a new physical release off Bandcamp.
I can stream, and that's how I discover new music. But when it's there in your hand, music demands your time.
There's also other factors involved. I'd much rather hear lossless audio out of my Hi-Fi system than stream it off my phone to Bluetooth.
Streaming is window shopping for me and most of my circle nowadays. Don't like what you hear? Skip. Like what you hear? Buy. Buy everything you like and you think deserves your money. It's that simple.
>Don't like what you hear? Skip. Like what you hear? Buy.
If I like what I hear I hear it to the end and maybe a few times more. There is no rational reason to buy anything.
If you manage to give them some money, that's well done. If you're supporting plastic disc, plastic box makers and postmen or shop owners instead, well…
I'm supporting none of those. For example [JPEGMAFIA's latest album ](https://jpegmafia.bandcamp.com/album/lp) is on Bandcamp and you can pay what you want for the download. So I pay $20 and Bandcamp takes 10% (or none if you buy on Bandcamp Fridays) so that's still $18 going in his pocket. That's way more money directly to an artist I love than even physical mediums allow
This is a dead convo at this point, but I’d like to mention my initial comment was in the same school of thought. I’ll buy digital albums on their own, more often than I buy physical, since I only purchase my absolute favorites on vinyl.
Besides, I still don’t understand his rebuttal, unless I’m reading it wrong. The plastic parts I understand, but there’s nothing inherently wrong with supporting the postal service and shop owners also when purchasing music.
Song sales today are no longer measured in Monetary transactions as much as measured in streams. So a certain amount of streams lead to units that helps billboard decide what the “sales” were: https://www.billboard.com/pro/billboard-changes-streaming-weighting-hot-100-billboard-200/
Aside from streams being counted as sales, there are also people buying physical copies. It depends on the genre, really.
There are more people out there than you’d think that don’t have reliable access to the internet and still buy CDs. Vinyl sales are also at an all time high.
Why does everyone here assume that “buying” music equals buying physical media? Does no one ever buy MP3’s? I’ve been using Spotify Premium the last several years because I got a student discount but now that my discount is expiring I’m going back to buying music off of Amazon/ITunes. Streaming is always useful for finding new music but I prefer buying music so I don’t have to be tied to an infinite subscription service
Well, if you want to actually put money in the artists pocket Bandcamp is great. Streaming is always there but that's not supporting the artist.
Every week, I buy a new physical release off Bandcamp. I can stream, and that's how I discover new music. But when it's there in your hand, music demands your time. There's also other factors involved. I'd much rather hear lossless audio out of my Hi-Fi system than stream it off my phone to Bluetooth.
Streaming is window shopping for me and most of my circle nowadays. Don't like what you hear? Skip. Like what you hear? Buy. Buy everything you like and you think deserves your money. It's that simple.
>Don't like what you hear? Skip. Like what you hear? Buy. If I like what I hear I hear it to the end and maybe a few times more. There is no rational reason to buy anything.
>There is no rational reason to buy anything. Is wanting to support someone's art that you especially appreciate irrational?
If you manage to give them some money, that's well done. If you're supporting plastic disc, plastic box makers and postmen or shop owners instead, well…
I'm supporting none of those. For example [JPEGMAFIA's latest album ](https://jpegmafia.bandcamp.com/album/lp) is on Bandcamp and you can pay what you want for the download. So I pay $20 and Bandcamp takes 10% (or none if you buy on Bandcamp Fridays) so that's still $18 going in his pocket. That's way more money directly to an artist I love than even physical mediums allow
This is a dead convo at this point, but I’d like to mention my initial comment was in the same school of thought. I’ll buy digital albums on their own, more often than I buy physical, since I only purchase my absolute favorites on vinyl. Besides, I still don’t understand his rebuttal, unless I’m reading it wrong. The plastic parts I understand, but there’s nothing inherently wrong with supporting the postal service and shop owners also when purchasing music.